Police facing yet another probe... as two OAPs die
200 YARDS APART... SO WHY DID IT TAKE HOURS FOR OFFICERS TO REACH DEATH FLAT? Tragedy sparks f ifth major investigation into troubled force
AN inquiry has been launched into Police Scotland’s handling of a house call which led to the discovery of an elderly man’s body and his seriously ill wife lying close by.
Elizabeth Iggulden, 89, died in hospital on Friday night, five days after her husband, Douglas, 88, was found dead by police when they forced entry to their Edinburgh home last Sunday.
The Crown Office has asked the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) to examine concerns about the timing of the police response after a call expressing concern about the welfare of the couple, of Portobello.
It is the fifth major probe into Police Scotland in as many months. Cases include the death in police custody of Sheku Bayoh, 31; the M9 crash scandal in which Lamara Bell, 25, and John Yuill, 28, lost their lives; and the death of Janet McKay, 88, who was still alive five days after police failed to investigate a sighting of her.
It is understood Mr and Mrs Iggulden were last seen alive by the postman, who later spoke of his shock to neighbours.
Eyewitnesses – yet to be interviewed by police – told The Scottish Mail on Sunday they saw Mr Iggulden going about his ‘normal routine’ on the Saturday morning.
One said: ‘Rumours they may have been lying there for a few days are completely untrue. The postman told me he’d seen Mr Iggulden on the street on Saturday, going for his newspaper as usual.’
She said the couple had been seen near the door of their ground-floor flat two days earlier, on September 24. Mrs Iggulden had fallen and her husband was unable to help her up.
She added: ‘The postman and bin man had to help to carry her back inside because Mr Iggulden was too frail to do it himself. A day later, everyone saw Mr Iggulden again as normal.’
But on Sunday, after neighbours realised there had been no sign of him, one knocked on the couple’s door and failed to get a response. By then, it would appear Mr Iggulden was already dead and his wife, who had suffered a stroke, was unable to call for help.
It is believed the couple’s son Douglas, 62, who lives in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, had also tried to contact his parents on Saturday evening but was unable to do so. It is understood a phone call from a relative, seeking advice, was made to police around this time.
But sources claim it was not till the following morning officers were officially requested to attend the address in Adelphi Place, less than 200 yards from Portobello police station.
It is the apparent time lapse between the morning call and the arrival of officers a few hours later that is at the centre of the PIRC investigation.
A neighbour said: ‘It was around 1pm that a police car was seen outside the flat. The officer sat there talking on his radio for a while and it was around 2.30pm to 3pm when more officers arrived and they started smashing the door and the windows to get access.’
One resident in the block said a female police officer ‘looked through the letter box’ and said: ‘There’s a body on the floor.’
Yesterday, neighbours spoke of their shock at the deaths. Mrs Iggulden had been in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary since being found on September 27.
James Quinn, 73, said: ‘He didn’t really talk about her illness much and said she didn’t need a carer, that no one could care for his wife like he could. He always smiled and said good morning. I couldn’t believe it when I heard what had happened.’
Another neighbour told how she had tried to approach Mr Iggulden previously to offer assistance, but added: ‘He was very proud and would always decline. He had also said a few times how much he loved his wife and would do anything for her.’
Yesterday, a PIRC spokesman said: ‘The Commissioner has been instructed by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) to carry out an independent investigation into the initial response by Police Scotland to a call to attend at a residential address in Portobello on Sunday, September 27, 2015.
‘Following a report of concern about the welfare of the occupants at the property, officers arrived to find the body of an 88-year-old man.
‘They also discovered a seriously ill 89-year-old woman, who was taken to hospital for treatment but died five days later.
‘A report on the Commissioner’s findings will be submitted to the COPFS in due course.’
Yesterday, a Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Our condolences are with her family at this time and we continue to offer support to them as required. The death is currently being treated as unexplained. However, the circumstances are not believed to be suspicious.’
‘There’s a body
on the floor’